Into the Fire

Chapter Ninety

The next several months were extraordinarily busy ones for the copy-nin, and he found himself excitedly looking forward to each new day and the challenges it would bring. As he stood near the door and swept his eye around the comfortable space, appreciating just how far the shop had come since the day Ibiki first brought him here, he thanked the gods, yet again, for allowing him this opportunity for a new life.

His relationship with the stoic interrogator had also made a great deal of progress. Kakashi's attitude had undergone a paradigm shift since his release from the hospital, and he was now determined to enjoy the scarred man's company for as long as he was willing, still fearing the day would come all too soon when Ibiki would see him for who he really was and reject him.

Not today, he decided smugly, today is going to be perfect. After long hours of hard work, and much debate over the pros and cons of every decision, Hatake-san's Books was finally preparing to open for business. With one last satisfied look around he stepped up to the front door, took a deep breath and raised the blind hiding the interior from view, flipping the sign from closed to open before settling comfortably behind the counter with the volume he was currently devouring.

Fifteen minutes later he was pulled from his reading by the tinkle of the bell over the door. “Good-morning.” the silver-haired man exclaimed with a smile, never lifting his eyes from the page he was on, “How can I help you?”

“Hey brat, nice place.” Jiraiya replied casually, “I just wanted to stop in and wish you luck . . . and check out the Icha Icha section while I'm here, of course.”

“Jiji,” Kakashi replied with a snort, “I should have known you'd have an ulterior motive.”

“I'm hurt.” the sannin exclaimed dramatically, “Here I take time out of my busy day to wish my favorite nephew well with his new venture . . .”

“In the first place,” the copy-nin retorted sarcastically as he finally marked his place and put down his book, “I'm your only nephew. In the second . . . I'm afraid I don't carry Icha Icha, it's hardly rare or exotic now, is it . . . you can buy it all over town. Now, I do happen to have some more refined erotica . . . things that cater to a less, pedestrian, taste as it were.”

He stood and moved around the counter, tentatively embracing the toad sage. “It's good to see you Jiraiya,” he declared with a lazy smile, “when did you get into town?”

“I got in last night, I couldn't miss the big day.” the sannin replied, eyes twinkling merrily, “I thought we could split a bottle of sake to celebrate.”

“Maybe later . . . I have the kids right now.” Kakashi replied seriously as he indicated the large double pram parked behind the counter, “I can't set a bad example for them.”

“What kids?” the alarmed toad sage exclaimed, “I thought you liked men.”

“Asuma and Kurenai's twins, he's on a mission and she has her team to train . . . I'm the doting godfather with plenty of time on his hands.” the silver-haired man explained, “I watch them when they're both busy.”

“You babysit?” Jiraiya asked incredulously, “The infamous sharingan Kakashi, most dangerous assassin in the Bingo Book . . . are you sure they didn't scramble your brain in that nuthouse?”

“Watch it old man.” Bull growled from the shadows next to the carriage, “Your stupidity is showing again.”

“You're right.” the sannin replied, “I'm sorry Kakashi . . . I'm a neanderthal. I just . . . I can't imagine taking care of one baby, much less two.”

“I couldn't either until these little sweeties were born.” the copy-nin cooed tenderly as he gently smoothed the blanket covering the sleeping pair, “I helped Kurenai through her labor . . . when they finally made their appearance, it made all the pain worthwhile.”

“All what pain?” Jiraiya asked suspiciously, “What did you do whelp?”

“I helped Kurenai with her labor . . . the pains were killing her so I just . . .” the silver-haired man lightly fingered the patch over his sharingan for a moment, “you know.”

“You took her labor pain?” the shocked toad sage retorted, “That's insane, why would you do that?”

“I was her labor coach . . . Kurenai was afraid Asuma would be off on a mission when the baby was born, so I agreed to help her. When the time came though . . . she was hurting so badly, and she didn't need to, I was happy to help.” Kakashi insisted stubbornly, “Although I have to admit, I'm really, really glad I'm not a woman . . . it was nasty.” he concluded with a shudder. “But then I held them and they were so sweet and small and helpless, how could I not love them?” he concluded reasonably.

“What are their names?” the old man asked curiously as he peered into the carriage, only to find himself pinned by two curious sets of eyes.

“The little bruiser on the left is Kiyoshi and princess Ko is on the right.” the copy-nin explained quietly even as he reached in and lifted the little girl up to rest against his shoulder as he gently rubbed his fingertips up and down her back. “He's living up to his name, that's for sure . . . I swear all he does is eat and sleep.”

“Like his father at that age.” the sannin remarked idly as he watched the little boy's eyes slip shut again even as his sister regarded him with inquisitive eyes over the jounin's shoulder.

“That's right, you knew 'suma as a child.” Kakashi said thoughtfully, “Would you like to hold her?”

“No, no, no, no, that's fine, no thank you.” the sage babbled, shaking his head and making slashing motions with his arms to indicate just how much he didn't want to.

“Here you go hime.” the copy-nin whispered to the tiny girl as he deposited her in the reluctant man's arms, “Meet your uncle Jiji, he was one of your grandfather's favorite students. He's very strong and wise” the sannin broke into a wide smile at the last, which instantly disappeared as the younger Hatake continued, “and old.”

“I'm out of here.” Jiraiya announced as he uneasily passed the infant back to her enthralled godfather, “Do you want to have dinner later?”

“I need to check with 'biki . . . I'll have to let you know.” Kakashi replied as he tucked the sleepy baby back into the pram.

By mid-afternoon the shop had seen a dozen or so customers, and the copy-nin had not only made his first sales, but he had several requests for him to track down particular volumes, something he was looking forward to turning his considerable espionage talents toward. Around three o'clock Kurenai finally came to pick up the twins, cooing delightedly at her babies as she chatted with her friend until she noticed the time and raced off to get dinner ready before Asuma arrived home from his mission.

When the bell rang just after five, Kakashi called from behind the counter, “Sorry I'm closed. Please come back tomorrow.” He gasped when strong arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him into a firm chest.

“I'll be happy to leave if you'll come with me.” Ibiki's familiar voice rumbled in the copy-nin's ear, “I want to go spar with you.”

“Is that what they're calling it these days?” the silver-haired man teased.

“Just because you're not on active duty, doesn't mean you don't have to stay in shape.” the interrogator reminded him, “You still have to pass your annual evaluation next month.”

“Yare, yare.” the copy-nin huffed, “I seriously doubt I'm in danger of failing my evaluation.”

“Fine,” the scarred man husked, “then I just want an opportunity to get my hands on this enticing body of yours.”

“Flattery will get you everywhere.” Kakashi replied joyously, “Let me grab my stuff and we can go 'train'.” He quickly grabbed his jacket and stuffed the book he'd been reading in his pocket before linking his arm with the interrogator's and pulling him outside, turning to lock the door before they continued strolling companionably toward the training grounds.

“You were serious?” the copy-nin asked in surprise.

“Of course. I want to spar with you 'kashi . . . you may be a genius, but you still need to keep your hand to hand skills sharp.” Ibiki replied patiently.

“But, I thought, you know . . .” the silver haired man whined.

“No, I don't know.” the scarred man chuckled, “Explain it to me.”

“I thought it was a euphemism, you know, for making out.” a petulant Kakashi retorted.

A smile twitched at the corners of the stoic interrogator's mouth, but his voice was serious as he answered. “While I think that sounds lovely, no, it was not a euphemism. If you want me you're going to have to earn me.”

“You are so mean.” the copy-nin grumbled as he stripped off his jacket and shirt, stretching seductively before his face became blankly serious and he dropped into a ready stance, stretching out one arm and flicking his finger in a 'come hither' gesture to indicate his readiness.

About ten minutes into their spar, Ibiki found himself pinned to the ground, Kakashi plastered to his back. He flexed his muscles in preparation for throwing the lighter man off, only to stop dead when he felt a hard length pressing insistently against his ass.

“You win.” the interrogator conceded, quickly flipping their positions so a startled copy-nin found himself lying on his back, looking up into the scarred man's endless onyx eyes. “Now, to give you your prize.” He bent and kissed the silver-haired man, teasing open plump pink lips to plunge inside and ravish the sweetness of his lover's mouth. When a throaty moan escaped the younger man's lips, Ibiki took it as a sign to move on, leaving a trail of hot, open mouthed kisses down Kakashi's sweat slick torso until he came to the waistband of his pants, tearing them open to release his semi-rigid cock.

“You never even noticed, did you?” the interrogator teased joyfully as he swiped his tongue down the rapidly swelling length, “Fighting gets you hard.” he finished with a smirk before wrapping his lips around the head and ever so slowly sliding down until his nose was buried in soft silver curls, swallowing several times around the twitching flesh before retreating.

Kakashi threw back his head and let out a howl, instinctively thrusting up into the hot, wet heat surrounding his over-sensitive erection and the scarred man responded by redoubling his efforts, bobbing and sucking at an ever faster pace. The copy-nin let out a piercing shriek when a massive hand began to rub and roll his heavy sac, eyes rolling up in his head as he fought to hold on against the onslaught of pleasure. He was finally undone when the interrogator's tongue flicked against the hyper-sensitive slit and he came with a gasp, flooding Ibiki's mouth with his hot salty seed, twitching uncontrollably when his lover continued to suck the dwindling length voraciously.

“Mmmmm, I've missed that.” the interrogator purred, “I love the way you taste.”

Kakashi could only nod weakly in response and gratefully accept when his larger lover scooped him into his arms and teleported them home, eyes slipping shut as he was tenderly deposited on the bed.

“You rest sweetheart, you've had a very busy day.” Ibiki hummed happily, “I'll go fix dinner.”